


First Enemy

by Fabrisse



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-02-20
Updated: 2007-02-20
Packaged: 2017-11-16 14:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/540321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daniel gets a singular honor from an unexpected quarter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Enemy

**Author's Note:**

> Originally appeared in the Ancient's Gate 'zine /Recognition/.

It was close. Again. At least this time Daniel wasn't radioactive.

Dr. Brightman had reassured him that Daniel was healing now. Carter and Teal'c weren't in great shape, but they were ambulatory and ready to be discharged from the infirmary.

Jack looked at the sleeping figure. "Doctor, if you'd please tell Colonel Carter and Master Teal'c that we'll debrief in an hour."

"Certainly, sir. I'd like to recommend that they be put on light duties for several days, a week if possible."

"I don't see why not. There's a couple of pieces of alien tech coming in over the next few days. I'll give them both 48 hours off first."

"Thank you, sir."

"How long?"

"I beg your pardon, sir?"

"You've put him in a controlled coma, right? How long before you can let Daniel wake up?"

"I'd say 48 hours at a minimum. 72 is more likely. He has a tendency not to use the painkillers which may make his brain feel better, but keeps him from healing as quickly."

"I'm on his side with that."

"I know, sir. But we have to take it under consideration when we decide whether to bring him out."

"There's no brain damage, right?"

"None, sir. We're putting him into the isolation room a little later." Dr. Brightman hesitated.

"Yes, Doctor?"

"Would like us to put a bed in there for you, too, sir?"

Jack thought about it. "A chair is best. The whole team will take watch in rotation. I'll sleep in my base quarters."

"All right, sir."

"It was a good thought, Dr. Brightman. I appreciate it."

"Thank you, sir. I'll go let Teal'c and the Colonel know that they can go get cleaned up."

"Could you have a nurse notify me when I've been here 55 minutes? I'd hate to be late for my own briefing."

"You've got it, sir."

****

It was still a little odd to have Teal'c and Carter stand when he entered the room.

Jack took his place at the head of the table and everyone sat. Teal'c looked fatigued; there were long burns healing on both his arms. Carter's face was scratched, and she looked haunted. They were both badly shaken.

"According to Dr. Brightman, Daniel's stable and has no brain damage. The cheekbone was only fractured. Ditto the jawbone and two ribs. There will have to be several weeks of physical therapy for the compound fracture in his thigh. None of his internal organs were ruptured. All impacts were on the left hand side. So, my first question is, was it a fall?"

Colonel Carter was the first to reply. "No, sir. We arrived as planned. About ten minutes after we got there, people came into the clearing. Daniel heard something they said and told us to run for the DHD. They didn't care about us, General. They went directly for Daniel."

"They called him by name, O'Neill."

"What?"

"It's true, sir. They called him Daniel Jackson and went directly for him. We were barely an afterthought."

"Daniel Jackson slipped and fell, but that was not what damaged him."

"They surrounded him. They'd only hit him on the left, but they hit until they heard a pop. Then the next 'warrior' took over, until he heard a pop."

"I began using my staff weapon to disperse them. We discovered that they had similar weapons but seemed unpracticed in their use. Colonel Carter's weapon kept more people from joining the circle."

Jack just stared at them, picturing the scene in his own mind.

"When enough of them had fallen or stepped away, Teal'c ran in and grabbed Daniel. I laid down covering fire and got to the DHD to dial home. You saw us come in, sir."

"The timeline fits. You were gone just under half an hour."

"We don't know what happened beyond what we've told you. SG-1 arrived on the planet, had a firefight, and got home."

"You're not the only ones. This is the third time this week. No one else has been singled out for injury like Daniel though."

"It is most strange, O'Neill."

"Has anyone else been named, sir?"

"Not that I know of. It's certainly not mentioned in the reports. I'll call the team leaders in for a further debriefing."

"Yes, sir."

"Doctor Brightman has recommended that you have 48 hours downtime. I'd appreciate getting copies of your preliminary reports before you go... Actually, Colonel, if the other team leaders are on base, would you mind waiting until the debriefing."

"Of course, sir."

They all rose to go their separate ways.

"I will go sit with Daniel Jackson."

"Thank you, Teal'c."

****

The debriefing had a couple of useful moments. The most striking thing was that all of these planets had different Goa'uld in charge of them.

It was Carter who saw the pattern. All of the planets were ruled by System Lords.

Teal'c contacted Bra'tac and asked that anyone in the Jaffa rebellion who knew of specific orders regarding the Tau'ri please contact them with the details.

After Carter took the overnight watch on Daniel, she went home for 48 hours.

****

Dr. Brightman decided that Daniel didn't need the longer coma and began bringing him out two days after the original mission. Teal'c was on watch.

"Master Bra'tac has contacted me. Three of our people have heard that the system lords have decided that you are the greatest threat to their existence. You have taken that title from me."

"Now, now, there's plenty of honor to go around."

Teal'c looked behind him to see Jack standing in the doorway. "Indeed, O'Neill."

"See, I can't tell if that's your amused eyebrow or your disapproving eyebrow. Daniel, wake up and help me translate this."

"sh'rrup, J'ck."

"It was my amused eyebrow, O'Neill. It is now my disapproving one."

"I didn't think he'd actually wake up yet." Jack looked abashed. "Seriously, though, there's no Jaffa honor thing with Daniel taking the title from you, right?"

"None. But Daniel Jackson has died too many times for my taste, and I would prefer that people who come after us come for the Shol'va and not the one that Master Bra'tac says is called 'The First Enemy.'"

"I help blow up Ra with a nuclear weapon. I convince you to join us. I'm generally a pain in their butts for seven years, but they don't call me 'The First Enemy'."

"Perhaps it is because you have caused pain in many other butts too. Daniel is known far and wide for his kindness, eloquence, and compassion."

Jack grinned. "Are you trying to say I'm not diplomatic."

"I believe the Earth phrase to be 'you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.' Daniel Jackson's honeyed words have freed more slaves and convinced more allies than your weapons or my rebellion."

"Yeah, they have."

"I must go sleep. Will you watch? Or should I call Colonel Carter?"

"My watch, Teal'c. My watch."

****

"Look, Doctor Brightman, I'll handle this. Come back in ten minutes. Please."

She looked over at her patient -- her very unhappy and obstreperous patient. "All right, General. I'll give you fifteen, but not one minute more."

"Understood, Doctor."

The door to the isolation room closed and looked at Daniel. "So what kind of flowers do you figure she likes?"

The wires muffled Daniel's voice. "Flowers, J'ck?"

"The ones that I know you're going to get her as an apology."

"I am not."

"Really?"

"She's a gourmet cook, I thought an assortment of infused oils for cooking would work."

"At least you admit you need to apologize."

"Why can't I go home? The main reason I bought a house was so that I could get around on my own without people worrying I'd fall from a balcony or something."

"Because there've been more than a few bad missions so we can't afford to spare medical personnel. Carter is needed here, and I can't look after you for the same reason. Teal'c might be able to stay with you, if you'd prefer."

"Hell, no. The last time he did he woke me in the middle of the night to take my sleeping pill. He's a great guy but a lousy nurse."

"So make your choice. You can stay here in a VIP suite. Someone will bring you food and work, and the nurses will check up on you for medication two or three times a day without our having to spare one from the rotation. Or you can go to the nursing facility at the Academy. Fresh air and sunshine, good food -- as hospital food goes -- and no work. Teal'c, Carter, and I will come see you when we can."

"I can't hire a homecare nurse?"

"The Air Force is worried that you might say something about the program while you're on painkillers. I don't worry about it; I've seen you stand up to Apophis. But as long as it's a concern, I have to address it."

"Yeah, Jack, I know. I know that's why I can't have work at the Academy facility. Never mind that most of the people there have higher security clearances than I do, they might catch wind of the program."

"It's more that you'll be a civilian at a military facility. Too many questions right there."

"Yeah. Look, the fresh air and sunshine sounds great, but I'll go crazy if I can't work."

"Here, then."

"Sure, Jack."

"I guarantee you that I'll take you topside for an hour every day. Longer if I can spare the time."

Daniel smiled a funny closed lip smile. "You shouldn't make me laugh. It hurts."

"I'll order a VIP suite set up."

"Jack, can you get permission for me to wear something other than this?" Daniel had bunched his hands around his hospital gown.

"I'll do my best. Sweats for preference?"

"That'd be great."

Doctor Brightman came back in. "What's the verdict, General?"

"I'm right here, Doctor."

"I'll let Daniel tell you what he decided. Any way we can get him out of that dress? He's got sweats in his locker."

"I'd prefer that he stay in a hospital gown for ease of IV entry."

Two sets of eyes glared at her.

Brightman turned to General O'Neill. "Keep the T-Shirt sleeveless and make the sweats something he doesn't care about, just in case we have to cut them off."

"I'm right here!"

"I'm going to get everything set up."

Jack left Daniel and Doctor Brightman locked in a staring contest.

****

Jack stopped by with a wheelchair at noon on the dot. He'd been doing it for a week now, and Daniel was torn between hating to be interrupted and loving the chance to go out in the sunshine. The grin on Jack's face guaranteed that sunshine won out over work.

When they got to the top of the mountain, Jack directed them toward some walking paths. "Any progress?"

"What kind, Jack? My passive physical therapy seems to be going well, but it will be a couple of more weeks before I can stand on my own. Teal'c's been great about helping me keep up with an upper body program. On the work front, we need to train more linguists. Too many teams are going out without having at least one Goa'uld speaker."

"Yeah. About that. What did the natives say that made you run?"

"I heard the words Tau'ri, reward, and Ba'al. I told Sam and Teal'c to run and hotfooted it myself. Then someone called my name. Like an idiot I reacted. That's when they flanked me, I was cut away from Sam and Teal'c like a sheep. As I said, 'Idiot!'"

"Stop talking that way about the smartest man I know. It's always tougher not to react, especially to your own name."

"Yeah, Jack." The disbelief on Daniel's face was eloquent.

"The linguist thing? Why's this coming up again?"

"I've listened to the best mimics on each team repeat what they've heard. But because they aren't working from understanding, I can't be certain that I'm parsing it correctly."

"It's helped though?" Jack set the brake on Daniel's chair and sat down on a bench. It was a sunny day and a nice spot.

"I'm coming up with the same word set that I got on M4S-184 -- Tau'ri, Ba'al, and something that might mean reward. I'm also getting enemy, which makes sense, of course, but doesn't help much."

"Teal'c's told you what Bra'tac's people are saying, right?"

"'The First Enemy?' Yeah. But it's an odd designation for the Tau'ri. We've been too long known as the 'first planet' the sound values for planet and enemy are similar in Goa'uld -- logical considering their urge to conquer..."

"Hold up, Daniel. I get it. But didn't you hear what Teal'c said? It's not the Tau'ri that're being labeled: it's you. You are now the personal enemy of the System Lords."

"I think they've misunderstood."

"'Cause that Bra'tac misunderstands so much."

"Because I'm not that big a threat. Hell, half the people on this base think I'm being given a free pass on the weapons requirements."

"Give me names. I can happen to them."

"I'm sure you could, Jack." Daniel smiled. "The wires come off in three days. No real solids for another couple of weeks, but still, I'm looking forward to it."

"Three days. That would be Friday? I'll ask the doc what your restrictions are. Maybe get you some of that liverwurst you like."

"It's called pate, Jack."

****

The Monday after the wires came off Daniel's jaw brought the first break. A visit to P8S-253 brought another small firefight and short mission. But SG-8 managed to photograph a large, new-looking sign, that was near the entrance to the city they were visiting.

The images were cleaned up and given to Daniel for translation. He'd had them barely an hour when he called and asked Jack to come talk to him.

"Score one for Teal'c and Bra'tac."

"Context, Daniel."

"The world that SG-8 went to is a mostly played out mining world. The Goa'uld who runs it isn't one we've seen before, but he apparently owes his allegiance to the System Lords."

"We've seen that before, right? Zipacna served another Goa'uld, and Osiris aligned with Anubis."

"Exactly. But this false god is Hermes. He probably owed loyalty to Cronos before we ... Teal'c's double took care of him."

"And?"

"Hermes is, among other duties, a god of literacy. He's credited with inventing the alphabet. Anyway, his reputation seems to be accurate, because he expects his slaves to be able to read. This sign is essentially a wanted poster."

"OK. So what does old Hermes want?"

"Well, it seems that Ba'al or the System Lords or both are the ones who really want it. There's a bounty for dead Tau'ri. However, there are also dire threats for anyone who kills me. I can be tortured, but not killed. The world that delivers me to the System Lords, 'Will be free of taxation even unto the seventh generation' which is very biblical but fits with Ba'al."

"Why can't you be killed?"

Daniel's skin went a little grey. "They want me for implantation. Whatever is done to me must be repairable by a sarcophagus."

Jack laughed. "You've really scared them. They don't think they'll get any information out of you any other way."

"I suppose that's consolation, but Jack, I..."

"We're not letting you off-world for at least two more months according to Doctor Brightman, maybe three. It's going to be another week or more before you can start working on the leg. That gives us time."

"What about the other teams? They're going out there with prices on their heads."

"We'll pull off all civilians and limit our first contact missions for a little while. I'll go call the President about this."

"Jack, how long is a little while?"

"We're not running scared, but we're also not going to be stupid. We have long term projects that have been ignored in favor of first contact missions. It won't hurt us to change that balance for a bit."

Jack stared at Daniel for a minute. "Spill."

"Why me? Teal'c's got the Jaffa literally up in arms. Sam is taking their tech away from them and adapting it to our needs. You're a pain in the butt, but I'm just a geek."

"A geek who's tolerated torture better than any man I've known. You've ascended, descended, and argued. No one can be entirely certain who and what you are, but you'll always argue from morality -- which is more than I can claim.

"You've killed or helped to kill Ra, Hathor, and Apophis. You were on another mission, but your doppelganger's death led to Cronos' death. The Asgard like you well enough to name a ship after you -- though I still think O'Neill 2 would have had a nice ring to it. You've made friends with the First Ones and helped uncover the parasite's history. Of course, you're dangerous to them."

"I can face torture. I'd rather not die again, but it's always a chance around here." Daniel's voice sounded distant.

Jack moved from the chair to the bed and put a hand on Daniel's arm. "I'm scared too."

"I, Jack..."

"If you're turned, I'll give the order to shoot to kill on sight."

"Thank you."

"You'd do the same for me."

"True. But people actually follow a general's orders."

"It's cool." Jack got up to leave the room. "Will you send me the full translation of the document when you're done?"

"Sure, Jack."

****

It had taken a little effort to find a military engraver with a high enough security clearance. It had taken the engraver some effort to learn to form the letters to Teal'c's exacting standards.

Carter had helped Jack with the design and the wording. And the President had approved its placement.

Daniel was going home today. It was a Friday, and it felt good to put on real clothes. He was taking the team and Jack out for dinner tonight to thank them for all of their help and patience. After all, Daniel hadn't left the Cheyenne mountain complex in just over twelve weeks.

Jack stopped by to walk him up to the surface. When they got to the level where they had to change elevators Sam and Teal'c met them. As Daniel bent to sign out, he saw the plaque placed squarely between the United States flag and the SGC's unit flag.

Someone had lasered his latest ID picture into the middle left of the plaque. Next to it was a simple listing of his accomplishments beginning with the opening of the Stargate. Across the top were the words in Goa'uld that proclaimed him the "First Enemy" of the System Lords. His own translation of the passage was in equally large letters across the bottom.

It took Daniel a few moments to realize that the others were awaiting his reaction.

"It's good, guys." The words were barely a whisper.

The other three smiled at each other. Jack clapped Daniel on the back and guided him to the elevators. Daniel watched the doors close and realized that his face would be the first thing that visitors to the SGC would see from now on.

"It's good."


End file.
